Mom's still mad at MattaSo Daequan Cook is your NBA Three Point Champion and to think, some thought he was too young or lacked the star power to even be in the event.
Overcoming his doubters is starting to become old hat for Cook. After he left Ohio State following a freshman season in which he saw less and less playing time as the season progressed -- leading his mother to publicly call out Thad Matta -- Cook surprised many (including us at 11W HQ) by going 21st in the 2007 draft and then proceeding to make the Heat (after early season NBDL rumors) and contribute to the tune of 8.8 points and 3 rebounds per game as a rookie.
This year, he's contributing solid minutes (25/per) and has bumped his average up to 10.4 points per game. Part of that boost can be attributed to the work he put into his long-range shooting as his three point percentage of .411 is good enough for 34th in the Association.
Granted, winning the three point contest doesn't typically translate to anything tangible as far as the regular season is concerned (see two-time defending champion Kapano and his career 19 minutes per game average), but consistently connecting from downtown is a great way to stay employed for a long time.
The Montana clan is in town today and though it would be beyond sweet if Nick gave a verbal before leaving, we may just have to sweat this one out. He's set to visit Texas later in the week (and the defense calls Chris Simms to testify about the treatment of the sons of famous quarterbacks) and will probably check out Alabama in the near future as well.
Still, it can't hurt for Tressel to have the DeBartolo/Youngstown connection going for him and Montana will be looking at a situation where he could assume the reigns after Pryor leaves (assuming Bauserman doesn't lay claim to them first).
Cook wasn't the only former Buckeye doing well in Phoenix this weekend as Katie Smith teamed up with Bill Laimbeer and Aaron Affalo to lead Team Detroit to a first-place finish in some newfangled competition pitting a former NBA great, a current NBA player and a WNBA player in a battle of cities.
This may not rank up there with the Olympic gold medal, WNBA title or WNBA Finals MVP she's bagged in the last few months, but...
